On With the Show

Patrons and passersby of the Regal UA Theater in Hampton Bays in recent weeks may have seen a glimmer of hope: a liquor license application pasted in the window of the theater. It means the theater has no intention of closing, at least anytime soon.

Talk of the theater’s demise, since it was announced in early 2019 that it would shut down and be replaced by a CVS pharmacy, left the community out of sorts and clamoring for it to remain open. Perhaps their voices have been heard.

The liquor license application is a good sign. Another is that the theater’s corporate owner, Cineworld, fresh on the heels of a bankruptcy restructuring agreement, decided to leave the Hampton Bays theater open for now, even as part of the restructuring it closed dozens of other move houses nationwide.

Walter Morris, who manages the Montauk Highway property, was optimistic as well. Although the theater is operating on a month-to-month lease, he said there are no signs that it’s going anywhere anytime soon, even with the uncertainty that surrounds the fate of movie theaters in general, which have struggled in recent years as the public has shifted to at-home streaming.

The Hampton Bays theater may have found a business model in line with the community that might make it more profitable, screening films in both English and Spanish. The ability to serve alcohol, as larger multi-screen theaters have found to be successful in filling seats, may make it even more attractive to the residents of Hampton Bays — and perhaps even profitable.

The specter of the giant CVS store still looms, however, even four years after it was initially pitched, as the application for the pharmacy continues to seek approval as it winds its way through the Town Planning Board review. Morris said either tenant would be welcome in the space.

The theater has long been a centerpiece for the hamlet and, especially with the closure of the theater in nearby Southampton Village, can certainly be a destination business that draws consumers to the downtown district, a benefit for all businesses in Hampton Bays.

So if the community is eager for the theater to remain open, residents need to show their love by watching a lot of movies and embracing the new business model. If it is to remain, the theater needs the public’s support, both vocally and monetarily, before it’s too late and yet another corporate drugstore rises up in its place.